Blackbird
by Imaginebeingsafe
Summary: AU Futurefic. Brett and Casey are parents. so what does it look like when Matt gets hurt?


Asa smiles at him and holds his hand on the way to her bus stop, just at the end of the block that 51 is on.

They're singing Disney songs, their breath making clouds in the chilly late October dawn.

As the bus pulls up, Asa asks for a few more seconds, and he gives them.

"I have to go, baby. You have to go to school, and I have to go back to work."

"Please be careful, Daddy. You and Momma come home safe."

"We'll be safe, Baby Girl. We always do our best at work just like you do your best at school. Momma or I will see you after school. I love you."

She blows him a kiss.

"I love you too, Daddy!" She calls back.

Putting on her work clothing, Sylvie takes a moment to look at the pictures on the door of her locker.

One of Andrea clinging to Matt's shoulders as he swam.

The other of the three of them in the aftermath of her sixth birthday party, Andi's mouth dyed blue from frosting.

She's in Matt's lap, the two of them engrossed in a book she got. Asa is leaning on one of his shoulders, Sylvie's head is set on the other- a fond smile on her face.

She thought of last Saturday.

In-between waking and sleep, she felt the small weight of her daughter climbing on the bed.

"Daddy's makin' Pamcakes. Come on! Wake up, Momma!" Asa whisper-shouted.

Her lips quirked up at the childish mispronunciation of pancakes.

Heavier footsteps. Matt.

"I sent my little girl to check on her momma. Instead, there's a Monkey on the bed."

Mock indignation fills her voice as Sylvie replies:

"How dare you!? Mistaking our baby for a monkey!"

He steps up to the bed in short strides.

He scoops an already giggling Andi up.

"Let's see…."

He sniffs her hair.

"Asa's favorite cupcake Shampoo."

He tugs at her nightgown, a favorite, with Elsa on it.

"This monkey has good taste."

He tips her upside down, causing her to squeal:

"Daddy, Stoppit!"

"There you are, Asa."

A few minutes later Asa's squealing again due to tickle attack.

So much for a peaceful morning.

Sylvie wouldn't have them any other way.

At the end of the school day, Andi got off her bus excited….

It was Uncle Kelly waiting for her this time.

"Ace, we got to talk."

Suddenly afraid, she asked:

"Where are Momma and Daddy?"

"I swear they're okay, but your dad got banged up a little. Your mom is with him at the hospital. I'll take you, and Aunt Stella, Bess, and Ben are coming with us, too."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, it really is okay."

He scooped her up.

"I know it's scary, my dad was a firefighter too, it scared me when I was a kid. He's okay, they have to fix what's hurt, and your mom wanted to be with him. People who are hurt need someone who loves them very much to be there, it helps. That's why we're taking you to them instead."

Stella walked out to her car, which they were taking to Chicago Med. Asa's car seat was already in place for the little girl. As she looked at Asa, she swatted at him.

"I told you to wait. I'd have found some way to…"

"What? Not make her cry? If It was my dad when I was her age? I'd act the same.

If it was Bess? Or Ben?"

Elizabeth. Their nine year old. Or god, Benji. who's only five.

The thought makes her breath catch.

"Asa's both tough and mostly fearless. Casey and Brett will be fine, and she will too." Kelly replied.

They have to wait. Hospitals always involve waiting.

Stella is grateful for her daughter. The nine year old distracted Asa at once with coloring.

The girls chatter and Bess even gets giggles from Asa.

Sylvie finds them an hour later.

When Andi's caught in a hug like always, she's hugged extra tight. She doesn't notice, because she gives as good as she gets, hugging back with all her six year old might.

"Daddy's fine, Baby. He's just sleeping. The medicine that they use has to wear off, like when you got the tubes to clear your ears."

+Later+

"You have to have dinner, I will too. Then you'll spend the night with Kelly and Stella. Tomorrow morning you'll get to spend time with daddy, ok? He needs to rest tonight."

Ok, dinner was spoiling her kid a tiny bit. Chicken nuggets and mac & cheese.

Good girl that she is, she remembered veggies and got carrots. Plus a carton of milk and peanut butter cookies for desert.

Sylvie got a wrap and chips, food that required no more thought then lift-to-mouth-and-eat.

She was concentrating on her daughter. The next week or so would be rough, and right now would be all the time she could give her for tonight.

Andi does eat. Sylvie asks questions about school, if she has homework- never much for a first grader but needed to be done over the weekend.

As the meal is close to finishing, Asa asks the hard question of the night.

"How did Daddy get hurt?"

Matt and herself had agreed, before all this to tell as much of the truth to Andi as they could, tailoring it for age and details, if one of them got hurt

"He was helping people out of a bedroom, onto the ladder. It was an older house. The floor fell apart, and he fell though."

Strangely, Asa got it. Matt had told her, when she asked him why they did the scary stuff.

"We learned how, because that's what we wanted to do. You'll understand that when you're a little older. Some people, all they ever want to do with their lives is help people when they are hurt or in trouble. It makes the world a little less scary, knowing others are there to help. Knowing what to do when it gets rough."

"He was helping. It's the dumb floor's fault."

Perfect six-year-old logic. Plus she also knew that both of them had learned how to do what they do safely. Momma and Daddy were her heroes still.

Another hour, and Asa was leaving.

"I'll see you first thing in the morning, okay? Just sleep, you'll see us in the morning- Daddy will be awake then, too"

That night, Andi has a nightmare. It's one she's had before. She's running through her house, calling for Momma and Daddy, opening every door. She can't find them.

Asa wakes up when the light flicks on,

She hears Bess say:

"She okay, Dad?"

"Yeah, Bess, I got her. Just a bad dream."

She's soaked to the touch, and he knows he's going to have to change her.

"Daddy!" she gasps.

Kelly scoops her up.

"Shh, kiddo. Your dad's fine. I'm here. Must have been a bad one, huh Ace?"

He looks away to see stella at the door

" I texted Sylvie. She may need mom time if she can't have Casey right this second"

"Thanks, Babe."

Sylvie face-timed soon after.

"Black bird singin' in the dead of night.

Take these broken wings and lean to fly.

You were only waiting for this moment to arrive…"

She goes through the song three times, before Asa sleeps.

The next morning, Sylvie leads her daughter by the hand to Matt's room.

"So Daddy will have some wires attached, and those help the doctor keep an eye on him.

He might be sleepy too because of the medicine.

They fixed some of his hurts, but he's still sore. So be very careful, baby."

Asa catches herself and just grips the bed rails.

"Daddy?"

Casey's eyes open, and find the owner of the unsure voice.

A smile spreads across his face, one he only has for his girls.

"Hey, Asa. Hi, Baby."

She's still unsure, so Casey insists

"C'mere"

Brett gives him a look, but sighs.

Matt wants to hold their daughter? Nothing will stop him.

"I got her, Sylvie."

"Both of you, Careful!"

"Yes, Momma."

Their little one tucks herself into Casey's good side.

Father and daughter talk small talk.

Brett thanks everything that the three of them get to have this.


End file.
